13062021 - Amid protest , Buhari vows:: i can die for Nigeria

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 13, 2021,PAGE 23
Redeemed from death to life
How many times have you heard these
kinds of testimonies? “Praise the
Lord! Hallelujah! God has blessed
me with a brand-new car.” “My wife just gave
birth to a beautiful baby girl.” “Glory be to
God; I have just been promoted at work.”
These testimonies are invaluable, but you
must admit they are run-of-the-mill. In the
first place, they are not limited to believers.
Unbelievers also buy new cars, have children,
and get promoted. But there are testimonies
that separate the sons of God from the sons of
men. Those testimonies are usually preceded
by a death, after which they reveal the power of
resurrection.
Living death
Imagine you are in church when Lazarus
gives this testimony: “Praise the Lord! I fell
sick and died. After four days, the Lord Jesus
raised me from the dead.” I bet you would sit
up and really pay attention. Or imagine you
were there when Jonah says:
“Praise the Lord! I was thrown overboard on
the high seas. A big fish came and swallowed
me. I was in its belly for three days and three
nights. While there, I phoned Pastor Joshua
and told him to labour in prayer with me. After
three days, God answered, and the fish vomited
me at Nineveh harbour.” Now, how about
that for a testimony?
Jesus was crucified and he died. On the third
day, he rose triumphantly from the dead. On
his resurrection, he told his disciples: “You shall
be my witnesses.” What does it mean today to
be a witness of the death and resurrection of
Jesus?
You have to experience a living death and
Success in life, ministry: Persevering to succeed (11)
INTRODUC-
TION
In the race to
wards success,
there are many ups
and downs, hills and
valleys. These could
be part of the deterrents
to make you
back down, retreat or Pastor Akinola
even surrender! In
the last session, we learnt that crucibles are
necessary tools and pathways which a successful
leader must pass through before coronation.
In this session, we shall be considering
the art of keeping our eyes on the finishing
line, refusing any compromise, and acknowledging
the factors and people that God
sent your way in order to bring you to the
successful actualization of your vision. If you
do not learn this art, you may not be able to
sail through a leadership crucible successfully.
KEEPING YOUR EYES ON THE FIN-
ISHING LINE
When you keep your eyes on the finishing
line, you have very little room for distractions.
Distractions will certainly come on your
way to success, but it takes the discipline of
focus to fix your gaze on the finishing line.
Our Prime Example is our Lord Jesus Christ,
as expressed in Hebrews 12:1-2. The finishing
line is the “joy that was set before him”.
So He endured the cruciblesof the cross, the
shame and the agony. This joy before Him
was the success of procuring eternal life free
of charge for God’s creation, who were already
lost in sin. It was a great joy and achievement,
worth all the shame and suffering. An-
Abiding Iin Christ’s Doctrine (3)
IN JOHN 17:17, it is written: “Sanctify
them through the truth: thy word is truth.”
And in EZEKIEL 36:24—26, it is also written:
“For I will take you from among the heathen,
and gather you out of all countries and
will bring you into your own land. THEN WILL
I SPRINKLE CLEAN WATER UPON YOU,
and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness
and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A
new heart also will I give you: and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I
will give you an heart of flesh.”
This is the doctrine of Christ, known as the
Doctrine of Sanctification through the truth.
This truth is the clean water, mentioned in
Do not believe in any faith
where the dead cannot
be raised back to life
then be resurrected from the dead. You have
to be thrown down a well; sold off as a slave;
and then resurrect in Egypt as the prime
minister.
A resurrected man is a completely different
kettle of fish from a natural man. A
resurrected man has been fed to the lions.
He has overcome death and no longer fears
death. Indeed, he can no longer be killed.
John says: they overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto
the death.” (Revelation 12:11).
There is no other way to overcome in life
except by undergoing a living death. Jesus
says: “He who overcomes, I will give to
him to sit down with me on my throne, as I
also overcame, and sat down with my Father
on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21).
To overcome like Jesus, we must be prepared
to experience the fellowship of
Christ’s sufferings. So doing, we experience
first-hand the power of his resurrection.
It is at these imperatives that many of
us draw back from following Jesus. (Hebrews
10:32-35).
Triumphant life
other great example we had already learnt in our past episodes
was Joseph. He remembered the promise of God that
sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down for him. Even though
he didn’t know how and whenit was going to happen, yet He
stayed close and focused to God who gave him the vision.
Distractions may however sometimes overcome you, but
you can wriggle out from under it’s grip, and cry to God like
Caleb did in Joshua 14:11-12, that, “… Now therefore, give
me this mountain…”. That was after some 45 years of the
original promise. May you also recover all lost territories as
you keep your eyes on the finishing line which God has set
before you in Jesus Name.
GIVING ALL THE GLORY TO GOD
In the process of waiting for fulfillment of a vision or promise,
you need to give God the praise ahead of what He is
about to do in your life. Of course, this already makes God
take the glory whenever He does it, because it is no longer by
your own power or design, but His own plan and purpose.
Considering the case of our father Abraham, while fixing his
gaze on the finishing line which God gave him, we have this
record of him in Rom. 4:18-21,
18. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become
the father of many nations; according to that which
was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own
body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old,
neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21. And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised,
he was able also to perform
CONCLUSION
Once you have put your trust fully in God concerning whatever
He has said to you in His word, and you begin to give
Him praise in advance, the matter is no longer in your hands
but His. This is the way of good success. It is sweat-less
success.
J.K. Akinola. (Senior Pastor)
The Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT),
Ibadan, Nigeria.
Email: flprofenassociate@gmail.com, 08033376660,
08055405095.Pastor (Dr). E.O. Abina – General Overseer.
Verse 24.
God also says: “FOR I WILL TAKE YOU
FROM AMONG THE HEATHEN.” This
is Christ’s doctrine of SEPARATION, which
the Spirit of God spoke about in II CORIN-
THIANS 6:14—18: “BE YE NOT UN-
EQUALLY YOKED WITH UNBELIEV-
ERS: for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath light with darkness? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what
part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
For ye are the temple of the living God; as
God hath said, I will dwell in them and
walk in them; and I will be their God, and
The life Jesus gives is the resurrected life. Jesus
does not just say: “I am the life.” He says: “I am
the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25). Before
there can be life, there must be a death and
then a resurrection. Hannah says: “The LORD
kills and makes alive; he brings down to the
grave and brings up.” (1 Samuel 2:6).
The true Christian life is “the resurrected life.”
The promised abundant life in Christ is a life
after death. To live it, we must become a Lazarus.
We must die in our afflictions and then be
raised to newness of life. Jesus says: “a grain of
wheat that falls on the ground will never be more
than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will
produce lots of wheat.” (John 12:24).
In the scriptures, God reveals himself as the
resurrection and the life to a number of people,
including Job, Joseph, Shadrach, Meshach,
Abednego, and Daniel. The revelation follows
a familiar pattern. God decrees their death in
afflictions, and then he raises them back to life.
The new life inevitably makes them impregnable
to the travails of life.
Sons of God must conform to the image of
Christ. Jesus died and rose from the dead. Thereafter,
death no longer had dominion over him.
By the same token, the life of the redeemed is the
resurrected life. Without death, there can be no
resurrection. Therefore, the redeemed is a man
or woman who died and has risen from the dead.
The problem here is that most Christians simply
do not want to die. But if God does not kill
before he makes alive, then the motions of sin in
us would soon corrupt and defile the new man
in the redeemed.
Jesus warns: “No one puts new wine into old
wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine
is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they
put new wine into new wineskins, and both are
preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17).
Life after death
In this life, life does not prevail over life. But
death normally triumphs over natural life.
Therefore, to be victorious in this life, we must
conquer death. Death boasts: “No matter what
The Law
08120202087
law is good and powerful in
Tthe society. It makes any nation
function normally. Without the law, it
is almost impossible for citizens to
know good and bad.
If citizens fail to place high value
on the application of the knowledge
of the law and rule of law, they, undoubtedly,
will be law breakers, transgressors
and sinners.
These hinder the exaltation of the
nation, hinder abundance resources
for the development of the nation and
good of all citizens, hinder perfect and
peaceful coexistence and hinder the
knowledge of the importance of the
application of the wisdom of greater
than Solomon.
Law breakers, transgressors and sinners
also hinder patriotism in the nation;
patriotism that is demanding,
patriotism that can make the difference,
patriotism that made former NI
one of the best nations, and can make
modern NI one of the best nations on
earth.
Law breakers and sinners in the
country, especially those that go unpunished,
can hinder God's blessings
upon a nation, because sin is a reproach,
a hindrance to any nation or
they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I
will receive you, and will be a Father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the
Lord Almighty.”
In JOHN 17:16, it is written: “They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world.”
The doctrine of separation also includes separation
from all the pollutions of this present
world, which include all kinds of worldly ceremonies
and worldly festivities (celebrations)
which we, in the time past of our life, took pleasure
in, as written in 1 PETER 4:3: “For the time
past of our life may suffice us to have wrought
the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness,
lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings
and abominable idolatries.”
IF BELIEVERS IN CHRIST DO NOT OBEY
you become, no matter what you acquire, I
will get you in the end and bring it to nothing.”
Since death is always victorious over natural
life, the only life that is worthwhile is the
life that has prevailed over death. If your life
cannot prevail over death then you are done
for. The victorious life is life after death.
If Jesus had performed all his miracles, only
to die like any other man, he could not have
been the Messiah. He might still have been a
remarkable man. But he would nonetheless
have been just another prophet.
Do not believe in any faith that cannot guarantee
the resurrection of the dead. Do not
believe in any faith where the dead cannot be
raised back to life. Only Christianity guarantees
this. Even in my ministry, the Lord has
raised the dead back to life.
Just think about it. If there is no life after
death, then the poor and the needy would be
the most miserable people on earth. However,
Jesus says: “God will bless you people who
are poor. His kingdom belongs to you!” (Luke
6:20).
Why should a man come into this world just
to encounter all kinds of problems and, at the
end of it all, simply die? Paul says: “If our
hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are
worse off than anyone else.” (1 Corinthians
15:19).
The problems of this life only make sense in
light of the life after death. It is the life after
death that makes this life bearable. It is the
life after death that gives meaning to this miserable
life. Therefore, even in this life, God is
determined to socialise us into the resurrected
life. Even in this life, God insists that we lay
down our lives so he can raise us from the
dead.
Listen again to the words of Jesus: “Therefore
my Father loves me, because I lay down
my life that I may take it again. No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it again. This command I have received from
my Father.” (John 10:17-18).
people.
But obedience to the law exalts a nation.
When citizens obey the law, rule of law in
the society, there will be righteous citizens,
and those who do the right thing always are
righteous; righteousness brings exaltation
to the nation.
The law is spiritual (Romans 7:14), and
all who are placed in highest position, higher
position and high position are all ministers
of God (Romans 13:1-4).
Let every soul be subject unto the higher
powers, for there is no power but of God, the
powers-that-be are ordained by God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that
resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works,
but to the evil, wilt thou then not be afraid of
the power? Do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same.
For he is the minister of God to thee for
good, but if thou do that which is evil, be
afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain,
for he is the minister of God, a revenger to
execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
If patriots in the country, the Presidency
and security officials cannot see or know
all law breakers, transgressors and sinners
in the country that bring hindrances to the
nation, then highest powers (God Almighty,
Love Almighty) spiritual measure should
be consulted, sought after and applied for
the good of all patriots, citizens including
those unborn.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher
powers"
This is what every citizen should do, everybody
is involved, no one is left out; collectively,
all citizens must stand to work for
the exaltation of the nation, and make this
nation the best and avoid the condemnation
of former NI and the humiliation of the
next generation.
PETAP, 08120202087.
THIS DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION, THEN
GOD CANNOT DO, IN THEM, THIS
WORK OF SANCTIFICATION.
Believers in Christ that have been sanctified
by this truth, and are keeping it, are the righteous
nation, that will be allowed to enter
through the gates into heaven, as written in
ISAIAH 26:2: “Open ye the gates, that the
righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, may
enter in.”
Christian Gospel Church
(The Truth Centre), 4 Christian Gospel
Avenue, Beside Psychiatric Hospital,
Uselu, Benin City, Edo State
Email:cgc.com.ng@gmail.com
Telephone: +234(0) 7052061135,
+234(0)9030731406
Website: www.cgc.thetruthcentre.com